


The Ol' Switcharoo

by JaceofAllTrade



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: No Idea What To Tag This With, just chikage taking care of itaru, nothing alarming happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29348307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaceofAllTrade/pseuds/JaceofAllTrade
Summary: “Sen… Ch-Chi...kage-san, can… c-can you—please, I just… pick me up please, Chikage-san, I can’t—“~Or, in other words, I wanted to write Itaru calling Chikage who picks him up from something instead.
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru & Utsuki Chikage
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37





	The Ol' Switcharoo

“Sen… Ch-Chi...kage-san, can… c-can you—please, I just… pick me up please, Chikage-san, I can’t—“

Chikage wasn’t sure what he was going to find when he received his call. It was already odd that the gamer even called in the first place considering he was supposed to be at a party with his department on the other side of town, but Chikage was on high alert the moment he heard his roommate’s breathy and frantic voice begging to be picked up.

And so, Chikage flicked on the tracker signal and went to his car at a reasonably calm pace so as to not spook the other members of the dorm, even though his heartbeat was in his ears. _Why the fuck was he a few blocks away from where the work party supposed to be?_ He drove just a bit above the speed limit because Chikage felt that if he didn’t arrive in time then Itaru would die.

He hoped that wouldn’t be the case and Chikage was just being overly cautious.

What didn’t help ease this fear was the fact that Itaru didn’t want to end the call and instead, asked Chikage to keep talking to him. He didn’t really mind that of course because then Chikage didn’t need to sit in silence wondering if the other was okay the whole drive over.

“Chikage-san, please hurry…”

Oh, and that was the other weird thing. Itaru wouldn’t stop referring to him as Chikage-san.

“Don’t worry, Itaru, I’m almost there. Just hang on a little bit longer, okay? Do you need me to keep talking? I can describe the intricacies of your mechanical keyboard next if you’d like.” It sounded strange to say out loud, but after explaining how Itaru’s gaming controllers work and the mechanisms behind it, it sounded less strange. Plus, it seemed to be easing Itaru from what he could tell.

“I…”

A bit after Itaru trailed off, Chikage was worried he’d hung up or that something happened, but the telltale sign of his breathing was enough to tell Chikage that he wasn’t really sure what he wanted at the moment.

“That’s okay, Itaru. I’ll keep talking, alright? It’s been helping you so far and I want to keep helping you. Okay so, the layout of a keyboard is actually—“ And so Chikage started his explanation, leaving the finer details out and keeping it easy to follow for someone who wasn’t as well advised as him in engineering. Itaru had more of a grasp about it than the average citizen, so he skipped those parts in favor of fun little facts.

He stopped for a moment, “Still with me?” There was a little noise of affirmation from Itaru as Chikage didn’t hide his relieved smile including the relief in his voice. “Okay. Okay, that’s good.” Parking the car and switching it off, Chikage hopped out and locked the doors more out of instinct than actual concern for someone breaking into his car before pulling up his tracker app again as he spoke. “Okay Itaru, I’m here. Are you able to move? If not, that’s alright, I can come to you.” When the other didn’t answer and the dot didn’t seem to move, Chikage started in the direction his tracker app was telling him. “Alright, I’m moving now, I’ll be right there. Now, where was I about your keyboard… Ah, that’s right—”

Thankfully, it didn’t take terribly long to track him down, due to the fact that Itaru wasn’t really moving but he didn’t seem to be trying to hide either. Well, he was huddled up in a random end of an alley next to a building. Itaru probably didn’t want Chikage to look for long.

When he approached him, Chikage closed out of the tracker app and crouched several feet away from him, just in case. “Hey, Itaru.” He kept his voice low. “How are you feeling?” The bundle of clothes didn’t move for quite some time as Chikage hurriedly scanned the other for injuries. He didn’t seem to be hurt, thankfully, but this situation still worried Chikage immensely.

Finally, Itaru turned and peered at him, opening his mouth as if to speak only to release a breath as a white cloud rushed out of his mouth.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain right now or at all if you don’t want to. Let’s just focus on getting you home, okay? Are you alright with me carrying you to the car?”

Itaru shook his head.

Ah. Physical touch was completely out the window. “Are you able to walk on your own? I’ll keep my distance, and when we get to the car, you can lay down in the back seats if you want. I don’t mind at all.”

Without answering, Itaru shifted a bit before standing and cautiously taking a step as Chikage stood and kept his distance, but was ready to catch Itaru if he stumbled. Luckily, it never came to that as they reached the car. Chikage opened the door for Itaru and waited until he was settled before closing the door behind him, then went to the driver’s side and started the car before driving off.

Mindful of his roommate’s state, Chikage drove a lot slower and switched on the radio, connecting his phone to the Bluetooth and playing the KniRoun playlist that Itaru had jokingly added to his phone months ago but Chikage didn’t bother to delete. He kept the volume low so that Itaru wouldn’t get overwhelmed, but just loud enough where hopefully it’d soothe him.

Occasionally, he glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure that Itaru was still okay, but he was turned away from Chikage and curled in on himself. Despite how many questions he wanted to ask him, Chikage kept quiet and continued to drive, taking the longer route back home and sending a quick text to his brother to request that he make the others clear out of the lounge for an hour so that Chikage could get Itaru through the door and lounge and all the way to their room without anyone so much as bothering them.

Slowly taking the final turn onto their street, Chikage pulled into his usual parking space and turned off the car, getting out and opening the door for Itaru who didn’t move for several moments. Chikage almost thought he fell asleep, but then Itaru moved and stepped out before continuing onto the dorms but stopped at the door as Chikage closed the car door and locked the car. Upon reaching the front door, Chikage unlocked it and stepped in first, taking a quick look around and internally sighing in relief at how barren the entrance and lounge was.

Once Itaru had his jacket and shoes off, Chikage took the lead and checked around to make sure no one else was around before unlocking their door and letting Itaru walk in first. “Try to get changed and take your time,” Chikage advised and walked over to Itaru’s bed, yanking off his blanket and walking to the door with it. “If you can’t, that’s alright too. I’ll rent you a new suit if it comes to that. Don’t force yourself to do anything you can’t handle right now.”

After he saw Itaru nod, Chikage stepped out of their room and headed to the laundry room, tossing the blanket inside the dryer and switching it on. Then, he headed for the lounge to ready a thermos of hot tea. “Sorry for the random text, but thanks for complying anyway.” Chikage twisted the cap on and turned to Hisoka who was staring at him.

“... What happened?”

“He hasn’t said anything, but I won’t pry. I’m just trying to make sure the rest of the night is easy for him.”

Hisoka nodded. “Need anything else from me?”

“No, that should be it, thank you.” Chikage started putting away everything.

“K, I’m sleeping then.”

“Oi, don’t sleep on the—” Chikage cut himself off and sighed when he already saw Hisoka fast asleep on the couch. Picking up the thermos, Chikage passed by one of the cabinets and grabbed a blanket before unfolding it and tossing it over Hisoka with a heavy sigh. “Well, at least he’s not sleeping outside.”

Leaving the lounge, Chikage headed back to the laundry room and switched off the dryer, pulling out the now very warm blanket before going back to his room. Softly closing the door behind him, Chikage quickly scanned the room and found Itaru curled up on the couch in only a hoodie and boxers and mindlessly tapping on his phone. Walking over, Chikage set the thermos on the table and extended the blanket carefully over Itaru who continued to tap on his phone before Chikage pulled a few of the couch extensions over and shoved them up against the couch so that Itaru would have more space.

“I’ll be in the lounge for now, alright? Text me if you need anything else.” Chikage went to the door and opened it, but stopped upon hearing a voice.

“... Thanks, Chikage-san…”

Chikage threw a warm smile over his shoulder, but Itaru was facing away from him so he couldn’t see it anyway.

“Of course. Take care, Itaru.”

**Author's Note:**

> Uhh... idk this was self indulgent, tell me what you think, I guess???


End file.
